Whether History Or Hype, 'Hands Up, Don't Shoot' Endures

Demonstrators in St. Louis, Mo., protest the killing of Michael Brown.

Scott Olson
/ Getty Images

Listen

Listening...

/

Originally published on August 10, 2015 11:29 am

No one is certain exactly how the protest chant "hands up, don't shoot" got started, though Tory Russell says he has a good idea. Russell is co-founder of Hands Up United, an activist group which formed after the death of Michael Brown, the 18-year-old black man who was fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., last August.

"It came after Dorian Johnson, the guy that was with Mike Brown, and others said that Mike Brown had his hands up," Russell says.

As residents gathered where Brown's body lay for hours in the street, Russell says, a local activist, Brother Anthony Shahid, was on the scene. Russell recalls that as more police came, with dogs and weapons, Shahid said, "My hands are up; don't shoot me." He and others began to chant.

"So it's very organic, but it comes actually out of the story of the life and the death of Mike Brown Jr.," he says.

The idea of Brown being shot while his hands were raised in surrender would spread like wildfire on social media, and became a rallying cry and a mantra that inspired demonstrations across the country — even as the debate about the accuracy of the phrase continues.

The chant was used at a rally last August near the courthouse in Clayton, Mo., where civil rights activist Al Sharpton spoke to demonstrators.

Roorda says he knows that the grand jury investigation, which concluded that Officer Darren Wilson should not be charged, included different sets of eyewitness accounts of the encounter between Wilson and Brown.

"But the one set of accounts, including Darren's version of what happened out there, completely squares up with the physical evidence, with the ballistic evidence, with the forensic evidence, with the autopsy, and the other version just doesn't," he says.

Following its investigation, the Justice Department issued a scathing report about police practices and the court system in Ferguson, but it also cleared Darren Wilson of any civil rights violations in Brown's shooting death.

Then-Attorney General Eric Holder threw cold water on the hands-up scenario. But, Holder added, "It remains not only valid but essential to question how such a strong alternative version of events was able to take hold so swiftly and to be accepted so readily."

Montague Simmons, head of the Organization for Black Struggle, a long-time activist group in St. Louis, says there's a reason why the hands-up chant continues to resonate. Simmons says frustration still lingers after George Zimmerman, the Florida neighborhood watch volunteer who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon in February 2012, was acquitted in July 2013.

"I think it keyed into something that everybody's been feeling for a very long time," he says. "I remember after Trayvon, and after the verdict, people just felt helpless."

Ferguson Mayor James Knowles says people are stuck in their positions about the hands-up issue — but the focus needs to be elsewhere.

"At the end of the day, we want to make sure that our police officers and our community are safe," Knowles says, "that our police officers engage the community in a way that's productive and respectful; that we can avoid incidents [like the one] that happened, if at all possible."

Roorda says a widespread acceptance of the hands-up narrative has caused problems.

"Suddenly we have kids that are emboldened, and more than ever are non-compliant with the police and turning violent against the police, and that just means we're going to have more Michael Browns, not fewer," he says. "That is the real tragedy here. Let 'hands up, don't shoot' mean something positive. Let it mean, 'Hey, obey cops; comply with traffic stops.' "

Simmons has a much different take.

"Just because I'm black and male, and you may have thoughts that I am criminal or I am a threat, doesn't make it so, and doesn't give you an excuse to kill or injure me," he says. "So I think that the slogan is still valid."

Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

When Michael Brown, a black, 18-year-old guy, was fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo. last August, one of the most immediate responses came in the form of a protest chant and hash tag on social media - hands up, don't shoot. It was a rallying cry that inspired demonstrations across the country, even overseas, but there's been ongoing debate about the accuracy of that phrase. NPR's Cheryl Corley reports.

CHERYL CORLEY, BYLINE: It's not exactly certain how the protest chant hands up, don't shoot got started, although Tory Russell says he has a good idea. Russell was a co-founder of Hands Up United, the activist group which formed after Michael Brown's death.

TORY RUSSELL: So it came after Dorian Johnson, the guy that was with Mike Brown, and others said that Mike Brown had his hands up.

CORLEY: And Russell says as residents gathered where Brown's body lay for hours in the street, a local activist, Brother Anthony Shahid, was on the scene. Russell recalls as more police gathered with dogs and weapons, Shahid said, my hands are up, don't shoot me. And he and others began to chant.

RUSSELL: So it's very organic, but it comes actually out of the story of the life and the death of Mike Brown Jr.

CORLEY: And that idea of Michael Brown being shot while his hands were raised in surrender would spread like wildfire on social media. And that chant would become common at rallies like this one held last August near the courthouse in Clayton, Mo. That's where civil rights activist Al Sharpton spoke to demonstrators.

(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)

AL SHARPTON: And if you're angry, throw your arms up. If you want justice, throw your arms up. If you want answers, throw your arms up because that's the sign Michael was using.

JEFF ROORDA: For folks that want to cling to this hands up, don't shoot myth, it's just silly.

CORLEY: That Jeff Roorda, a spokesman for the St. Louis Police Officers Association. Roorda says he knows that a grand jury investigation, which concluded Officer Darren Wilson would not be charged, included different sets of eyewitness accounts of the encounter between Wilson and Michael Brown.

ROORDA: But the one set of accounts, including Darren's version of what happened out there, completely squares up with the physical evidence, with the ballistic evidence, with the forensic evidence, with the autopsy, and the other version just doesn't.

CORLEY: Following an investigation, the Justice Department issued a scathing report about police practices and the court system in Ferguson, but it also cleared Darren Wilson of any civil rights violations in Brown's shooting death. And then-Attorney General Eric Holder threw cold water on the hands up scenario.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ERIC HOLDER: It remains not only valid but essential to question how such a strong alternative version of events was able to take hold so swiftly and to be accepted so readily.

CORLEY: Montague Simmons, the head of the Organization for Black Struggle, a longtime activist group in St. Louis, says there's a reason why the hands up chant continued to resonate.

MONTAGUE SIMMONS: I think it keyed into something that everybody's been feeling for a very long time. I remember after Trayvon and after the verdict, like, people just felt helpless. And let alone after that, we're talking about Tamir Rice, another child. Like, you can't even be innocent and not find your way into being executed.

CORLEY: Ferguson Mayor James Knowles says people are stuck in their positions about the hands up issue, and the focus needs to be elsewhere.

JAMES KNOWLES: At the end of the day, we want to make sure that our police officers and our community are safe, that our police officers engage the community in a way that's productive and respectful, that we can avoid incidents like that happened, if at all possible.

CORLEY: But Jeff Roorda, with the police union, says a widespread acceptance of the hands up, don't shoot narrative by some has caused problems.

ROORDA: Suddenly we have kids that are emboldened and, more than ever, are non-compliant with the police and returning violence against the police. And that just means we're going to have more Michael Browns, not fewer, and that is the real tragedy here. Let hands up, don't shoot mean something positive. Let it mean, hey, obey cops, comply with traffic stops.

CORLEY: Activist Montague Simmons has a much different take.

SIMMONS: Just because I'm black and male and you may have thought that I am criminal, I am threat, doesn't make it so. And it doesn't give you an excuse to kill or injure me, so I think the slogan's still valid.

CORLEY: And a chant that many say will continue to be used at protests and on social media as a unifying force.

Related Content

A year after Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, was fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., sparking weeks of often violent protests in the city, the country is still struggling to deal with the issues the shooting, and others like it, have brought to the fore.

SEATTLE (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders spoke to a packed crowd Saturday night at the University of Washington campus about his commitment to criminal justice reform as well as addressing income equality.

So many high school students opted out of the state proficiency tests this year that policymakers face a problem: The Washington State Board of Education can't figure out what the passing scores should be.

In the medical marijuana business, Seattle has determined that there are good guys and bad guys.

Seattle and King County recently sent letters to all medical marijuana businesses, warning them they need to close. Seattle sent two kinds of letters: one to “good guys” who have a good shot at getting a state license, and another to “bad guys” who probably won’t.

King County took a harder line, telling all the dispensaries in unincorporated areas to close.